284 NATURE [OcTOBER 30, 1913 P 
SS 
they require. Kellner and his school have devised a 
method which measures the starch equivalent by ex- 
periment, a much more satisfactory and practical 
method than any system which depends purely on 
calculation. 
An animal or a number of animals are kept on a 
maintenance diet so that their weight remains con- 
stant. To this diet is added a known weight of 
starch, and the increase in weight observed. The 
animal or animals are then placed again on the same 
maintenance diet for some time, and then a known 
weight of the food to be tested is added, and the 
increase in weight again observed. The data thus 
obtained indicate that so many pounds of starch pro- 
duce as much increase in live-weight as so many 
pounds of the food under experiment, from 
which it is easy to calculate how many pounds 
of starch are actually required to produce as 
much increase in live-weight as 100 lb. of the food 
under experiment. The starch equivalent thus found 
expresses an experimentally determined fact which is 
of immediate practical value in arranging a dietary, 
its value, however, depending on the accuracy with 
which it has been determined. Kellner and his col- 
leagues have thus determined the starch equivalents 
of all the commonly used foods. Their values for 
concentrated foods, and other foods commonly used 
in Germany, have been determined with considerable 
accuracy, and with the method which has also been 
devised for defining the relation between the experi- 
mentally determined equivalent and the equivalent 
calculated from the analysis by means of a formula, 
they form by far the most trustworthy basis for 
arranging a feeding ration including such kinds of 
foods. 
But roots, which form the staple of the diet of 
fattening animals in Great Britain, are not used on 
the same scale in Germany, and Kellner’s starch 
equivalents for roots have not been determined with 
sufficient accuracy or under suitable conditions to 
warrant their use for arranging diets under our 
conditions. 
This, and the fact that the term starch equivalent 
is so widely misunderstood, is no doubt the reason 
why the Kellner equivalent has not been more 
generally accepted in Great Britain. An advance will 
be made in the practice of feeding as soon as the 
starch equivalent of roots has been accurately deter- 
mined under our conditions, when the Kellner equiva- 
lents will no doubt come into general use. 
I have now reached the end of my survey. J recog- 
nise that it is very incomplete, and that I have been 
compelled to neglect whole subjects in which important 
work has been done. I venture to hope, however, 
that my words have not been altogether unprofitable. 
It is somewhat difficult to summarise what is in 
itself really nothing but a summary. Perhaps, how- 
ever, I may be allowed to point out once more what 
appears to me to be the moral of the last twenty 
years of work in agricultural science. 
The many practical field and feeding tests carried 
out all over the country have demonstrated several 
very striking results; but, if they are to be continued 
with profit, more trouble must be taken to insure 
accuracy. Farmers are ready to listen. It behoves 
us more than ever to found what we tell them on 
accurate results. 
Besides such practical trials, however, much has 
been done in the way of individual scientific work. 
The results thus obtained, as, for instance, Russell 
and Hutchinson’s partial sterilisation of soils, Biffen’s 
new wheats, and Beaven’s pure Archer barley, are of 
practical value to the farmer as immediate as the 
most practical field trial, and of far wider application. 
NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONA. 
INTELLIGENCE. : 
Oxrorp.—The Herbert ‘Spencer lecture will be 
delivered by Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, F.R.S., proz 
fessor of psychology in the University of Bristol, on 
Friday, November 7. The subject of the lecture will 
be :—‘‘ Spencer’s Philosophy of Science.” i 
Dr. O. W. RicHarpson, F.R.S., professor of 
physics in Princeton University, New Jersey, has been 
appointed as from January 1 next to the Wheatstone 
chair of physics at King’s College, London, in suc- 
cession to Prof. C. G. Barkla, F.R.S. 
Mrs. W. Bayard CurtinG and her children have 
(says Science) given 40,o00l. to Columbia University 
for a fund in memory of the late W. Bayard Cutting, | 
who served as trustee of the University from 1880 until - 
his death, in 1912. The income of this fund is to be 
applied to the maintenance of travelling fellowships, 
open to graduate students of distinction in letters, 
science, law, and medicine or engineering. 
STUDENTS who are working privately with the 
object of graduating in the University of London will 
welcome the ‘“‘ London University Guide and Univer- 
sity Correspondence College Calendar, 1914,’’ pub- 
lished by the University Correspondence College, Lon- 
don, and distributed gratuitously. The first part of 
the volume constitutes the guide, and contains the 
regulations for the examinations leading to the vari- 
ous degrees to be held by the University of London 
in 1914 and 1915. The calendar, 1913-14, which 
completes the volume, gives particulars of the facili- 
ties offered by the University Correspondence College 
to students who desire assistance in their work 
through the post. 
A very useful form of pocket diary, which covers 
the academic year beginning with October, 1913, 
instead of commencing with January in the usual 
way, has been published by the Cambridge University 
Press. Though concerned more particularly with 
events in the work of the University of Cambridge, 
the diary will appeal to all whose work is in connec- 
tion with colleges or schools. The diary is published 
in three forms, at 1s. net, 2s. net, and 2s. 6d. net re- 
spectively. From the same source we have received 
“The Cambridge Diary for the Academical Year 
1913-14,’ in block form. Each sheet contains seven 
days, and ample space is provided for manuscript 
notes of engagements. The price of this diary is 1s. 
net. 
TuE establishment of new universities in Germany 
was one of the chief topics of discussion at the recent 
congress of German university teachers held at Stras- 
burg. The movement was strongly opposed in a re- 
port presented by Prof. Biicher, of Leipzig. Accord- 
ing to this, many corporations, with the encourage- 
ment of the Ministry are endeavouring to raise the 
status of existing institutions to that of university 
rank. The preponderance of government in such in- 
stitutions would be municipal, and consequently uni- 
versity independence would be endangered, and, in 
addition, a high academic standard would not be 
maintained. Overcrowding of the existing universi- 
ties was advanced as an argument in favour of the 
creation of new institutions, but the organisation of 
such universities as those of Berlinand Leipzig enabled 
them to deal with large numbers without any detri- 
ment to the teaching. Prof. Kaufmann, of Breslau, 
remarked that quite 4o per cent. of the students were 
unsuited for an academic training, and the creation 
of new institutions would in no way relieve over- 
crowding at the older universities, but simply increase 
awit 
